THREE DOTS, NO COM: Before Norv wore a bull's eye, there was Gilbride

There's little doubt
Norv Turner
remains the Chargers coach the team's boosters love to hate. But before Turner was the target for second-guessing and disdain, Chargers fans had
Kevin Gilbride
.

Gilbride went on two win two Super Bowls as the New York Giants' offensive coordinator after his tenure as Chargers head coach lasted just 22 games (16 losses). Then-general manager
Bobby Beathard
fired Gilbride following the sixth game of the 1998 season, admitting recently that hiring Gilbride matched his biggest blunder in the NFL draft.

"Kevin Gilbride was as big as a mistake in my mind as
Ryan Leaf
,'' Beathard said.

It was after the draft that Beathard said Gilbride showed his true colors. If Gilbride supported the selection of a player, he was all in. But if he disagreed with the decision to select a player, that player seldom got a fair shot.

"If a guy wasn't a high pick or someone he didn't agree with you don't just shut them down,'' Beathard said. "Gilbride was very different to work with in that regard.

"I remember one of our Super Bowl teams with Washington, (coach) Joe Gibbs had 22 free agents and he let them earn a spot. Some coaches think it's not worth their time. But you never know.''

Philip Rivers
' brother,
Steven
, plays at LSU. Beathard's highly recruited grandson,
C.J.
, was headed to Mississippi, but backed out of his commitment after coach
Houston Nutt
was fired. Beathard is now headed to Iowa to play for coach
Kirk Ferentz
.

"He is a good coach,'' the elder Beathard said of Ferentz. "I tried to hire him once.''

It would have been a better option than Gilbride. ...

Tell me that your crystal ball last April showed
Peyton Manning
handing off to
Ronnie Hillman
next season for the Broncos? All the best to the San Diego State running back who was drafted by Denver in the third round of the NFL draft Friday. He'll have a solid career if he does half as well as another undersized Aztecs back many thought was too small to take the NFL pounding: Hall of Famer
Marshall Faulk
. ...

Reports say
Peter O'Malley
continues to solidify his bid to buy the Padres from
John Moores
. O'Malley's family owned the Dodgers from the team's Brooklyn days before selling to Fox in 1998. O'Malley wants to purchase the Padres so family members can run it. I hope it happens. If nothing else, I'd like to see O'Malley standing and shouting: "Beat L.A.!". ...

Kudos to La Costa Canyon High football players and coaches as they lend a hand to North County's youth. Each Saturday, some 80 youngsters play flag football under the Mavericks' direction. The players referee the games, and the coaches, under the eye of head coach
Sean Sovacool
, make sure everything runs smoothly. ...